A man is dead after he was beaten on Selkirk Avenue overnight.
Winnipeg police remained on scene near Salter Street after they were called there at about 2:40 a.m. Saturday. There, emergency responders found a man who had been assaulted, they said, and was suffering from serious injuries.
The man, in his late 30s, was taken to hospital in unstable condition but later died.
Stephanie Laquette found the man laying on the ground when she was trying to buy cigarettes.
“I ran out and I was trying to wake him up, trying to help him, trying to talk to him and then I noticed he was falling asleep. I ran back to the truck and I grabbed some towels to try and stop the bleeding,” she said.
Investigators believe there were a number of people in the area and might be able to help provide more information to police.
Cst. Rob Carver said there is a 24-hour coffee shop in the area and a number of businesses that were open, so police are hoping witnesses step forward.
The scene extends about a city block, he added, which is why a large area was blocked off Saturday morning.
Investigators believe the man was assaulted near the intersection, then made his way south to Salter Street and Stella Avenue “where some people called, because he was obviously in need of some desperate medical attention,” said Carver.
This was the fourth homicide in two weeks, and the city has seen nine homicides since the beginning of the year.
“I was talking to the homicide unit and they look pretty worn out.”
Carver said they don’t know the underlying cause for this homicide, but for several of the past number of homicides, meth has “played a role” leading to violence and death.
Carver also said the investigation isn’t pointing to a random attack, however, he also stressed he couldn’t say if it was a targeted attack either.
“There are sort of various degrees of targeted attacks,” said Carver. “The early indications of what I’ve been briefed on is that this is not what the public would view as a completely random event.”
Anyone with information should call the Homicide Unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 1-204-786-TIPS (8477).